Legal Blog

States rely on federal anticrime grants for a variety of expenses, including training, equipment, and police personnel. So far there have been no payments under the Byrne Justice Assistance Grant Program (JAG), which usually are disbursed by the end of the federal fiscal year on...

A proposal to overhaul Washington, D.C.’s troubled Youth Rehabilitation Act would limit the number of young offenders eligible for more lenient sentences and require judges to justify in writing why they are giving convicts benefits under the law, the Washington Post reports. A City Council...

David Patchak probably never thought his complaint about the decision of the secretary of the Department of the Interior to take a tract of land near his home into trust for the benefit of a Michigan group known as the Gun Lake Tribe of Indians...

A tremendous amount of traction in the legal community has begun to center around becoming more efficient via legal project management. This month, our roundtable panelists are defining legal project management and giving their opinions on whether it’s a fad or here to stay.
Our Panelists
Dennis...

Just after Thanksgiving in 1983, James Downey dropped off his brother, John, at a Houston bus station, then turned away so neither the police nor a motorcycle gang affiliated with his brother could demand details about where the bus was headed. Thirty-four years later, Downey...

The unsealing of a false-statements plea deal by campaign volunteer George Papadopoulos may involve someone not named explicitly in either indictment: Attorney General Jeff Sessions, The Intercept reports. That’s because Sessions has repeatedly testified to the Senate that he knows nothing about any collusion with...

When a state appeals court affirms a lower-court ruling without an opinion, is it endorsing the decision below? Is it rejecting it? Does the answer depend upon the nature of the lower-court ruling? Does it vary by state? These questions, among others, appeared to vex...

California’s property crime totals fell three percent between 2010 and 2016, a period marked by major justice system reform, including a prison realignment and two propositions approved by voters, reports the California-based Center for Juvenile and Criminal Justice. A study by the organization found substantial...

Bobby Hines left a Michigan prison last month after 28 years. Three weeks later, he embraced Valencia Warren-Gibbs, the sister of the man he was convicted of killing. He wanted to talk about the night in 1989 when her older brother, James, was shot after...

Underpinning the 12-count indictment against former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort and his colleague Rick Gates are facts demonstrating willful and knowing violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA.) The indictment likely means that after many years of lax enforcement, the requirements of this...